Squad news

VALERON OR BORJA FERNANDEZ?

20 Jan 2012Oltra surprised on the past weekend as he used Borja Fernandez as a centre midfielder, while Juan Dominguez performed as the playmaker; now it’s expected that Juan Carlos Valerón could be returning into the starting eleven.

José Luis Oltra is a coach that never shows his cards during the training sessions, neither speaks of the his plans during the press conferences; in this sense he surprised everybody on last weekend as Borja Fernandez made his first appearance as a starter performing alongside Álex Bergantiños at midfield.

Then, Juan Dominguez advanced his position and performed as the playmaker in the formation; according to Álex the move was made in order to take advantage of the aerial game of Borja, which Oltra considered as vital taking in mind that the set-pieces are the stronger point of SD Huesca. This modification left Juan Carlos Valerón out of a liga clash for the first time during this season; and it’s that El Flaco was a starter in 17 of the 19 previous meetings in the tournament, while he entered as a replacement in the remaining two matches.

Now, Deportivo returns to the Riazor and the rival is Villarreal B, a different rival that needs a different approach, and the question is if Oltra will make changes in order to face the meeting. As always the Valencian coach didn’t want to explain his plans during the press conference that he gave on Thursdays, but big part of the media believes that Valerón will return into the starting formation.

This move will pull Juan Dominguez back to the centre of the pitch, while Borja will be on the bench. Another expected modification is the return of Ayoze Diaz to the left-back position. The Canarian defender was suspended for the past game played at El Alcoraz stadium.

For now the expected formation for Saturday is the normal 4-2-3-1; with Dani Aranzubia at the goal, the return of Ayoze will push Laureano Sanabria ‘Laure’ to the right-back position, while Diego Colotto and Ze Castro will continue to perform at the centre of the defense.

Álex and Juan Dominguez will be the two centre midfielders, Bruno Gama will probably continue at the right wing, Andrés Guardado will surely be on the left, while Valerón is expected to perform in the playmaking function.

Another question is if Lassad Nouioui will continue at the centre of the attack, Riki scored on of the goals before SD Huesca and offered a refreshing impression. Now, Oltra could be thinking of him for the meeting with Villarreal B. The Madrilenian has been the starting choice seven times on this season, while Lassad claimed the spot at the starting formation in fourteen opportunities.